


At her majesties service.

by myotishia



Series: Call of the void [4]
Category: Torchwood
Genre: Gen, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-12
Updated: 2020-01-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:21:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22224778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myotishia/pseuds/myotishia
Summary: The team are invited to a party by the queen herself but as to why, they can't be sure.New reader? Start righthere
Relationships: Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones, Owen Harper/Toshiko Sato
Series: Call of the void [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1580095
Kudos: 18





	1. Invitation

Jack swept out of his office after being on a call for the last hour. “Guess who just got invited to a party.”

Everyone looked at each other, wondering if he was expecting them to answer or not. 

“Um… You?” Gwen said to break the silence. 

“Right and wrong.”

“Ok, you’re dying to explain. Spit it out.”

“All of us are invited to a very special party, set in the beautiful and historic Caerphilly castle, by her majesty the queen.” He announced theatrically. He was greeted with silence. “Oh, come on! Isn’t that at least a bit exciting?”

Owen threw the pen he’d been chewing on to his desk. “We’re waiting for the punchline. You know, the whole secret part of the secret organisation kind of takes us off the guest list.” 

“Not when it comes to the queen. She’s in charge of our funding so she gets to invite us if she wants.”

“She must hate us.”

Elise waved. “Does that mean I have to wear a dress?”

“No, you can wear a suit if you’ll be more comfortable.” Jack smiled, appreciating someone being even mildly interested. 

She grinned. “Sweet. I’m in. Owen we need to go suit shopping.”

“I didn’t agree to go.” The doctor said flatly.

Elise stood and walked over to Owens side, bending to whisper in his ear. His expression went from disinterest to surprise and finally to something that could be called enthusiasm. 

“So, suit shopping then.” 

“What just ha-... Wait, I don’t want to know. Gwen? Tosh? Interested?” Jack let his mind skip trying to imagine what Elise had told their dear medic. 

Tosh chuckled, looking over at Elise and Owen who were both looking pleased with themselves. “Alright. One night can’t hurt.”

“As long as someone helps me find what to wear, I’ll happily tag along.” Gwen said cheerily.

Jack beamed. “That’s what I like to hear. Ianto?”

“Do I have an option sir?” Ianto gave his usual neutral look.

“Who else would I be taking as my date?”

The bluntness of the question caught the Welshman off guard. “I… Well… Ok then.”

“Brilliant! Lizzy insisted I bring my whole team anyway so.”

“Lizzy?” Gwen laughed. “You’re on a first name basis with the queen?”

“I have some stories I could tell about her. Not everyone can say they’ve been slapped by the queen for criticising her driving.”

“You’re joking.”

“Nope. Right in the face, and she didn’t pull her punches.” He gave a small chuckle, nostalgia etched on his face. 

Ianto walked over to Jack. “Does this mean you’re showing me off to your old friends?”

“No?”

“Was that a question or a statement?”

“Yes.” Jack lowered his voice to almost a whisper. “Which answer will end with me not sleeping alone tonight?”

“Shutting up.”

He zipped his lips. 

“Oh, Tosh?”

Tosh looked up, a soft smile on her face. “Yes?”

“Your mum sent you a letter and… Well, she sent a book.”

“A book?” 

Jack chuckled to himself. “She said Owen was too skinny so she sent you a recipe book.”

“Oh god.”

“It’s handwritten. I had to read through it and it took everything I had not to keep it.”

She shook her head. “I’ll make you a copy. Even now she knows how to embarrass me.”

“It’s sweet. At least she’s being supportive.”

“She wouldn’t if she knew the truth.”

“I think she’d be proud of you.” 

She blushed brightly and looked back at her screen as if that would hide her face. “I’ll grab the book later. Do you have a full dress code for this party?”

“Not yet. I’ll get it to you as soon as I have it.”

“So, why is this party being held here and not closer to home? Especially at such a busy time of year.”

“I asked but apparently she decided when and where this was personally without saying why. She was too busy to speak to me personally today.”

“Isn’t that a little suspicious?”

“Extremely suspicious, but the invitations definitely came from the top. Apparently the top brass from UNIT, MI5, the military, everyone is going to be there. Of course short of the prime minister and a few select guests no one’s going to know who we are… Well, they’ll know who I am.”

Ianto rolled his eyes and turned to walk off. “That’s because you announce yourself every time you walk in to an important meeting.” 

“Does that mean we’ll be walking in armed?” Asked Tosh, her embarrassment forgotten.

Jack watched Ianto go before turning back to Tosh. “No. We’re attending as guests. No work, just a few drinks, some dancing and avoiding having to talk to the Prime minister.”

“Oh. Ok.”

“I’m unsure of going in unprepared too but I can’t start a fight with Lizzys personal guard.”

“We could always smuggle a few things in.”

“With the scanners they’ll be using I don’t know how we’d get away with it.”

“Simple. Anything small can be hidden inside Eli's arm.”

“Huh?”

“Eli. Show Jack your snack storage.”

Elise wandered over and rolled up her sleeve, sliding her finger across the access panel in a sequence Jack guessed was a code. The metal plate slid aside to reveal the inner workings of the arm, a lot of extra space and a snickers bar. “Ooh I forgot I put that there. Score.”

“The shell will block any Earth made scanner and it would look bad if security started interrogating a personal guest of her majesty about a prosthetic.” Tosh gave her ‘I am perfectly innocent and just happen to have twisted the situation to my advantage by accident’ look.

Jack smiled warmly. “I’ll keep it in mind.”

Later that night Tosh was curled up on the sofa with a glass of wine in one hand while Owen and Elise were out picking up dinner. She was reading through the carefully handwritten book that her mother must have taken days putting together. Tosh remembered every single one of the meals her mother had written out the recipe for and she couldn’t help but smile at the nostalgic feeling. The little notes written in the margins said her mother remembered them just as clearly. Some were talking about silly things she did as a child or the funny faces she used to make when trying something new. Flicking through she caught a note she wished she’d skipped over. Of course her mother added her little brothers favourite meal and what they were both given when they ill. She sipped her drink, realising that she was already at the bottom of the glass. At the back of the book was a small after note that said how happy her mother was that they could talk even this much and that Tosh was moving on with her life. 

“Tosh?” Owen asked, crouching down to see her face better. “What’s wrong?”

She hadn’t even heard the door open. “What? Nothing, nothing, why?”

“Doesn’t look like nothing, you’re crying.”

She rubbed the tears from her cheeks. “Sorry. I’m fine. Just getting a little emotional over this.” She placed her empty glass down and pulled the book to her chest. “I’ll get plates.”

“Elise is already on it.” He sat next to her on the sofa and pulled her close. “So, what’re you going to try and get me to eat. I warn you now, I’m fussy.” 

He was trying to cheer her up and show some kind of interest. “You don’t have to.”

“No, no. Come on, I can’t read it myself so you could technically tell me anything.”

“Don’t you have anything your mum used to make for you? Like when you were feeling down or…?”

“You’re having a laugh aren’t you? If I didn’t get up and moving then I wasn’t eating.”

“Even when you were sick?”

“She didn’t want to get whatever I had so I was on my own. Unless I was one foot in the grave she didn’t want to know.”

She frowned deeply.

“Hey, I’m trying to cheer you up here, not make things worse. Eli help me out.”

Elise brought two of the three plates over and placed them on the coffee table. “My dad used to cook for me. Mum didn’t like him talking about his culture so I’m not sure what half of the dishes were actually called but I know he made these little tahini butter cookies for me when I was feeling down. He said he could get away with it because he could technically find them at the supermarket. My nan was the one to spoil me with food. She’d travelled all over the world when she was younger, so she had lots of different recipes she’d collected.” Elise laughed to herself. “If she knew how much take away food I eat now she’d be so angry. She used to tell my dad off for letting me have any processed food. You should have seen her. She’d hand me a cookie and tell me to go play then absolutely go off at my dad. She was speaking Arabic so I have no idea what she was saying but she looked so mad.”

“It’s a shame you never got to learn.” Tosh said softly.

“I think nan started to teach me but…” She looked sad suddenly. “When she passed, my dad said it was best if we kept the peace with mum and just stop.” Shaking it off she went back to fetch her own meal. “Anyway, any ideas about your outfits for this royal party thing?”

“I assume it’s going to be a black tie event so some kind of floor length dress. You two know what you’re wearing at least.”

“Unfortunately.” Owen mumbled, mouth full.

“I still think it’s very suspicious. Getting all of us in one place, unarmed. The whole thing will be a security nightmare.”

“Everyone’s thinking the same thing. I’ve already started stocking up on wide spectrum antidote, drug testing strips so I don’t have to use any of the antidote and enough retcon to make sure all the guests forget everything if the whole party goes to shit.”

“Maybe I should try and slim down the sonic shield pendants so we could have that for backup.”

Elise looked up from her food. “We can take a couple of the blades in my arm and we can try and program a few new scanning applications into my wrist comp. That should leave a bit of space for anything else important. Small med kit? Little bottle of vodka? Tiny umbrellas?” 

“That’s great and all but how are you going to get to it under all the layers?” Asked Owen, wondering if he should just say bugger it and sew some hidden pockets into his jacket. 

“If it comes to it I can make it work. And you’re still coming shopping with me this weekend.”

“Aww come on. I agreed to go to the party, just take my measurements and ask Ianto to go with you or something.”

“Fine, but you don’t get a sneak peek at what I’ll be wearing.”

“I’m sure I’ll survive. How about I go with you instead?” He nudged Tosh.

Tosh smiled. “You’re not allowed in the changing rooms with me.”

“I’ll be good.”

“Anyway, Gwen already offered to take me on Friday afternoon. You’ll be bored to tears but you can come along if you really want to.”

“I’ll give it a miss.”

The rift plodded along at its usual pace, spitting out what was essentially space rubbish now and again. Tosh and Gwen had spent the morning getting their hair done, wanting to at least make a partially good impression even if they didn’t feel like they belonged at this party. It was hard to get out of the mission mentality, reminding themselves that, no, they hadn’t forgotten their guns. And, yes, those heels would be fine. Gwen checked she had everything she needed in her purse for the third time.

“Has Owen been complaining about getting dressed up?” She asked.

Tosh placed her lipstick in her purse. “He’s been rather silent on the topic actually.”

“How? No offence but this  **is** Owen we’re talking about.”

“Elise said he didn’t get what she promised if he played up too much.”

“Are you sure she’s not blackmailing him? I mean what could she possibly offer to have that effect?”

“He’s more soft hearted than you think. Remember I was trying to help her with her hydrophobia?”

“Yea. I thought she point blank refused after nearly drowning again.”

“She did. Owen’s been worried that she could get into trouble if she freezes up just because she’s close to the water.”

“Are you telling me he’s playing nice just so she’ll try and go swimming again?”

“Yes.”

“You’re joking.” Gwen grinned.

“Nope. Don’t tell him I said anything. I think he’d rather you all assume it’s some kind of sex act she’s promised him.”

“I promise I won’t say a word. Where is Elise, by the way?”

“She’s making sure she has everything that she needs to take stashed in her arm before she gets fully dressed.” 

The sound of footsteps quickly approaching pulled their attention. 

“Sorry, sorry. Just wanted to be sure.” Elise blathered. She stopped when she saw them both. “Wow. We need to go to parties more often. You both look great. The guys are waiting when you’re ready.”

“We’ll wait for you with the others.” Gwen chuckled.

“Warning, Ianto’s fussing. Don’t move anything.”

Ianto Jones was indeed ‘fussing’, making sure everything was neat and tidy. He didn’t like the idea of this party, no matter how relaxed Jack was being about it. He felt like a mouse about to step on the pressure plate of a trap. He turned as he heard Gwen and Tosh enter the main area of the hub and smiled politely. They both looked beautiful. 

Jack leaned heavily on the walkway barrier, glad getting everyone to agree to come along hadn’t been too much of a fight. They looked great and maybe once they got to the party they’d relax a little. Owen sat up from slouching in his desk chair, not even hiding his smile at seeing Tosh in a ball gown. The masquerade had let her dress up but she was concentrating on work so this was different. 

“What do you think?” She asked, clutching her purse.

“You look amazing.” He breathed as he stood. “I mean you always look amazing but… Are you sure we can’t go somewhere nicer without all the rich toffs breathing down our necks?”

“I’m certain.” She chuckled. “You look nice.”

“I don’t feel it but at least I’ll blend in.” He shrugged. 

She brushed his cheek with a gentle hand. “It won’t be so bad. We’ll be together.”

“You sure you’re not going to run off?”

“Are you sure you’re not going to hide in the corner and drink all night?”

“Maybe if you hide in the corner with me.” 

“I think I can do that.”

They both felt eyes on them and Owen looked up to see Jack and Gwen watching with warm smiles on their faces. Tosh blushed and suppressed a laugh as Owen put his grumpy face back on. 

“Don’t mind us.” Gwen waved. 

Owen rolled his eyes.

Jack looked over to the door where Gwen and Tosh had emerged from. “So, is Elise joining us or…?”

As if on cue a figure appeared, immaculately dressed, brushing their hair back with a black gloved hand. 

“Elise?” Asked Gwen, not completely sure if it was really her or not.

Eli smiled. “Of course it’s me.”

“Aaaand now Gwen has to give up her ‘only straight girl in the hub’ card.” Owen smirked.

Gwen spluttered unconvincingly. “Owen Harper I swear if you don’t shut up-”

“You’ll drool over my girlfriend some more?” 

“Oh, don’t mind him. He’s only playing around.” Elise offered her arm to Gwen. “Being as your other half can’t come how about I accompany you.”

She took the womans arm and found her composure. “Alright then. Let’s try and make tonight worth all this work.” 

Caerphilly castle looked so much bigger in person compared to what the photos showed. It seemed almost otherworldly lit up by so many spotlights, the south east tower leaning as if it had forgotten what gravity was. Head of security, Matthew King, paced back and forth at the gatehouse waiting for the group her majesty had specifically sent him to retrieve. He hadn’t dressed for being posted outdoors and hoped he wouldn’t have to be out there much longer. Hearing voices he looked up and saw a face he recognised from the photograph he’d been shown.

“Captain Jack Harkness?” He asked. 

The man smiled. “The one and only.”

“Welcome. I’m the head of security for tonights event, Matthew King.”

“Apt name. So what do you need with me Mr King?”

“Her royal highness has asked for an audience with you the moment you arrived.”

“I don’t even get to check out the party first? Must be important. Ok, I’ll be back in a while guys.”

“Um, sir, you misunderstand. She has requested to see you and your team.”

The smile on the captains face faded, replaced with concern. “She asked for this personally?”

“Yes sir.”

“Fine. Lead the way.” He sighed.

Matthew lead them past the rest of the guests who were mingling around the inner ward and through the great hall, waving off the guards who were diligently keeping people away from the doors. The room had been lavishly decorated but all in keeping with the castles historic background. He opened up the private apartments and invited the team to walk through. 

“Her Majesty will be with you as soon as she can. Please, make yourselves comfortable.” 

Jack didn’t sit. He waited for Matthew to leave and sighed again. “Why can I never get invited to a party just to have fun?” 

“We knew this was a likelihood.” Ianto said. 

“Still. What could she need all of us to be here for?”

“Captain Harkness, if one could tell you that on the phone one would have. Don’t you think?” Queen Elizabeth said as she walked in, a corgi scampering in beside her. “Darcy, heel.” 

The dog rejoined her as she made her way to sit in a comfortable chair. “Don’t stand around, you’re making the place look scruffy.”

“You haven’t changed a bit.” Jack chuckled.

“Much more than you.”

He sat on one of the couches as his uncomfortable team sat stiffly not sure what would and would not be polite. “So, why did you invite us?”

“Right to the point. Don’t you think it would be polite to introduce your colleagues?”

“Your ma-”

“Jack. You know why this is necessary, so just do it.”

“Security check. I know. This is Ianto Jones.”

“Ah yes, the reason your paperwork is actually forwarded to me.”

“Are you just going to roast me here?”

“No, but we cannot help ourselves. Carry on.”

“This is Gwen Cooper.”

“It makes one glad to see more women in our police force. One does hope Jack has not been too difficult to work for.”

“Elise Carter.”

“Our newest asset. One did not expect you to be human, but that is not a slight one assures you.”

“Toshiko Sato.”

“One is very impressed with your work. Remind one, Jack, to speak with our UNIT representative about a pardon. We do not appreciate them attempting to overstep their authority against a woman who has shown herself to be loyal to this country and her people.”

“Will do.” He flashed a smile at Tosh, who looked a mixture of shocked and elated. “And finally, this is Dr Owen Harper.”

The queen laughed softly. “We appreciate you keeping Jack on his toes. It is wise to not let his ego consume too much of him. Now, to why one has called you here. Ones intelligence officers have been speaking of a possible assassination attempt upon ones person. We fear said assassin may be a shape shifter and may have infiltrated ones personal guard.”

“So you organised this to draw them out. You know how dangerous that is.”

“One is aware. We have lived a long life but ones grandchildren have not. If we are assassinated they may be next to be targeted. We will not stand for that. We have asked you here not as a ruler but as a friend… Jack, will you be able to find them tonight?”

His expression softened. “I’m not going to let you die tonight.”

“If it is ones time then one can accept that. One cannot accept our children to be harmed.”

“We’ll find this assassin. I don’t know how but we will. Now I get why you invited us like you did. If they suspect anything they might make a run for it and this’ll all be for nothing.”

“Thank you, all of you.” 

Darcy stood and sniffed the air, running towards the door. Seconds later there was a knock. 

“That will be ones duty calling.” She stood slowly. “It was good to see you again captain.”

“You too Lizzy.”

She smiled and headed out, Darcy trotting along at her side. Jack ran his hands over his face, not knowing where to start. 

“It’s a good thing we’re all so paranoid, isn’t it.” Gwen said.

He looked up sharply. “What?”

“We’ve been working on a few things to bring just in case something happened.”

“Like what?”

Tosh snapped herself from her thoughts. “We programmed Eli’s wrist computer to be able to pick up any unusual signals and energy output outside of the normal human developed range. We have two of the updated sonic shield pendants and we’re carrying enough retcon to knock out this whole party if necessary.”

“I took the liberty of looking up a floor plan of the building not available to the general public and there are multiple hidden passages throughout the castle.” Ianto pulled his pda from his pocket and handed it over. “We also took into consideration any bomb threats and where a device would most likely be planted. We couldn’t rule out the possibility of this being a very human threat. It’s not as if we have the best relationship with a lot of the people here.”

The great hall was bustling with people chatting and trying to impress each other with how much land they owned or which holiday home they flew off to for their latest break. The waiters and waitresses milled around, trying to make sure everyone had drinks. A crash announced one waitress tripping, the tray of empty glasses she’d been holding shattering across the floor. She desperately scrambled to gather the broken glass as she spluttered her apologies to no one in particular. 

“Please, allow me. I wouldn’t want you to cut yourself.” A soft voice said.

The waitress, Becca, glanced up to see a pair of kind eyes staring into hers. “Oh, I … It’s alright. I was being clumsy.”

“It’s not being clumsy when a man who looks like he hasn’t had a date in ten years trips you so he can look up your skirt. Anyway, I’m wearing gloves so I won’t get cut by the glass shards.” Elise shot a death stare towards the middle aged man who had been leaning back to see while Becca grabbed for the glass. He turned up his nose as his friends chuckled at him. 

“The boy’s not wrong.” One of the group said.

“Maybe you should ask your wife to bend over once in a while. Poor girls young enough to be your daughter.” Mocked another. 

The man, not being backed up by his friends, marched off in a huff and the rest of the group wandered off. Becca flinched as a thin sliver of glass stabbed her in the finger. Before she could move there was a white handkerchief pressed over her hand, the fabric now spotted with red. The gloved guest finished collecting the glass and made sure it was all collected on the silver tray.

“There. All clean. Let’s get this in the bin and find a plaster for your finger.”

“I’m sorry to be such a problem for you.” She sighed, knowing her manager would hit the roof when they found out. 

Elise shook her head with a sympathetic smile. “You’re not a problem at all. Believe me, I’ve been where you are.”

“Really?” This boy didn’t look or sound old enough to have had much of a job before but these days it was hard to tell. Their face was soft but had the faint line of a scar above their eyebrow. They were most likely the black sheep of one wealthy family or another. 

“Really. Do you know where they keep the first aid kit here?”

“Oh yes. It should be just through the pantry here. There’s a bin too.” 

Elise tipped the broken glass into the bin and placed the tray aside before opening the first aid kit. She pulled out one of the disinfectant wipes, a pair of gloves and a plaster. Exchanging the black glove on her right hand for the disposable one and pulling the other one over her left, not wanting to show the metal. 

“Let me take a look.”

Becca pulled away the handkerchief to show a small but deep cut in her index finger. “Are you a doctor?”

“No. I’m dating one but this is just first aider level stuff. This might sting a bit.” She gently began cleaning the wound.

“Your other hand is so cold. You must have been freezing outside.”

“It’s not so bad. I’m tougher than a little bit of a chill. You must be worked off your feet with all this.”

Becca watched her hand, blushing slightly. Even her boyfriend didn’t take this much care of her. “It’ll be worth it. I just hope they don’t take the price of those glasses out of my wages.”

“I wouldn’t worry too much. I’ve seen those glasses before and you can get four for a tenner at ASDA. They’re not going to bring out the fancy glassware for an event this big.”

She chuckled. “Really? I thought most of the guests wouldn’t drink from anything but the finest crystal. No offence.”

“None taken. As long as they think it’s the finest crystal they’ll drink from anything.” She wrapped the plaster around the womans finger. “There we go. It’s going to itch while it heals but if it really red or hot I’d go to the doctors.”

“Thank you. I’m sorry, I never even asked your name.”

“I’m Elise.”

That explained why this person seemed out of place, some families would accept their children being different even in high society it seemed. “I’m Becca.”

“It’s nice to meet you. I don’t know about you but it feels like some of the people around here act really… weird.”

“I know, right? The guests aren’t even the worst for it.”

“Really?”

“Yea, other that Mr King none of the security lot have eaten since they got here this morning. Usually we get event security coming round and asking for lunch or snacks while we’re making the finger food for the party but we’ve not had a peep.”

Elise raised an eyebrow. “Seriously? That’s a bit off.”

“Then again, what do I know. This whole party feels off to me. I’d better go, if my manager sees me chatting I’ll be fired. Thank you again.”

“No problem. Take care ok?”

“I can’t believe she just did that.” Tosh whispered to Owen after Elise had walked off with the waitress.

He shrugged. “Looks like a good way to get information. If anyone's acting strange the ones serving’ll notice before anyone else.”

“I meant saying that so loud.”

“The old perv’ deserved it.”

“I agree but that could have gone really badly. We’re meant to keep a low profile.” 

“It’s Elise.”

She sighed. “I know.”

“Sooo, what should we do now? Jack’s chatting up the guests, Elise is talking to the wait staff…” 

“I want to see if we can get a better vantage point for the room. Gwen said she was going to have a quick look around the secret passages so I don’t want to use them yet.”

“What about just outside? While everyone’s huddled in here they could be setting up a cannon out there and we wouldn’t know.”

“You just want to get away from the crowd.”

“Don’t you?”

“Yes.”

He grinned and took her hand, leading her to the doors and outside. The cold evening air hit them. A sharp contrast from the heat inside. The security guards covering the door barely even looked up. The sound of a far off detonation wafted through the air, followed by a second one from the opposite direction. 

“That sounded like it came from the bridges.” Tosh gasped. 

“Think you can run in that dress?”

“Yes.”

“Come on then.” He took off towards the closest bridge. The smell of burnt wood got stronger as they approached the bridge. Or more, the moat filled with chunks of wood. A voice rose from the water.

“Help! Anyone!” Matthew cried, gripping on to the edge of the moat. 

Owen reached down and helped the man up onto dry land. “What the hell just happened?”

“Someone… pushed me in… just before… the bridge went.” He coughed, water running from his clothes. “Need to call it in… But my radio’s dead.”

“Yea, I think they know. We heard the other bridge go too.”

“What?! Oh shit! We need to make sure her Majesty’s safe.” 


	2. Trapped

Jack took great pleasure in making the prime minister squirm. It was one thing being all bluster and attitude over a call but face to face things were very different. Ianto on the other hand would rather not get involved with this rivalry, that was only ever going to end one way. Jack always won in the end due to the simple fact that he was going to outlive whoever he had the rivalry with. The prime ministers wife looked just as tired with her husbands nonsense. She was nursing a glass of white wine and had painted on her smile for the night. Though it was odd how distracted she seemed, looking over her shoulder every few seconds. What did she have to hide?

“Is something wrong?” He asked softly. 

She jumped slightly at actually being spoken to. “No, no, I’m fine. It’s the strangest thing. I keep getting the feeling I’m being watched. Isn’t that silly?”

“Not at all. I’m sure there are lots of people here who recognise you.”

“Me?” She scoffed. “Goodness no. My husband is the one who grabs all the attention. I’m practically invisible.”

“Not always a bad thing.” 

“True. It does allow me and our children to live a normal life most of the time. I’m sorry about how my husband is with your captain. He tends to speak before he thinks.”

“Jack has a very similar problem.”

She chuckled softly. “It’s a shame you can’t exactly choose the one you fall in love with.”

“True.” He said before he could catch himself. “I mean-”

“Oh don’t look so flustered. It’s the twenty first century after all. Not all of us are stuck back in the dark ages.”

“I didn’t mean to imply anything.”

“I know. Don’t worry… Ugh, I’m getting that feeling again, can you look for me?”

He looked past her and saw one of the waiters staring. “It’s a waiter. He’s staring pretty intently at you.”

“Dark hair? Tired eyes?”

“Yes.”

“He must be following me.” She looked at her drink. “He was the one who gave me this when we first walked in. Some of the staff here are perfectly fine but some of them… Oh I don’t know. It’s as if there’s nothing behind their eyes. Not that they’re stupid just, as if they’re sleepwalking.”

His stomach dropped. This was the exact type of thing they were looking for that gave shapeshifters away. No matter how perfect the copy they made of a person was there was always something not quite right about them. Be it the way they spoke or the look in their eyes. Then again that also described people who were overworked to the point of exhaustion so he had to make sure he wasn’t jumping to conclusions. He considered going and talking to the man when an explosion rang through the air from outside. It was too big to be a firework and as a second followed from the opposite direction it was clear that something was very wrong.

Gwen had slipped off her shoes as the click of her heels had been annoying her in the secret tunnel she’d walked down. She held out the small card sized LED torch to illuminate the pitch black area. It was clear that even the staff didn’t use these hidden passages and for now that was a good thing. The last thing she wanted was to have to explain what she was doing creeping around in the dark. From the map she’d seen she guessed she was above the ballroom at this point but she couldn’t hear the music. What she could here were murmured voices beyond the next hidden door. She switched off the light and listened hard. Whoever was speaking had a strange metre to their speech. Like the emphasis was in all the wrong places. That would say that whoever they were they were giving them self away as the changing, but both were doing it. More than one? That was a huge problem. 

“Is it time?” One asked. 

“Yes. Everyone is in place… Do you think we will deal with resistance?”

“They are human. Any resistance will easily be subdued. Once their queen and her underlings are drained the rest will fall to chaos.”

“We still have no way of contacting the invasion fleet commander. We are exiled. After this what will we do?”

“We will take this kingdom then contact the commander. Once we have proven our usefulness they will be made to allow our return. Now, go. The sooner this begins the sooner we may feed.”

Gwen moved closer to the fine sliver of light that was not blocked by the ancient hidden door, trying to see who these people were pretending to be. The one leaving looked to be wearing a chefs uniform from the back, which made her very happy she hadn’t had chance to sample any of the food. The other was keeping just out of her line of sight. She considered trying to move the door just a tiny bit but the vibrations from what she guessed was an explosion snapped her back. She needed to tell the others. She sprinted back down the hallway by torchlight, jumping down the spiral staircase two steps at a time, her dress billowing out behind her. The commotion from the great hall got louder as she approached the tapestry covered entrance she’d entered through. 

Matthew charged up to the two guards posted by the doors. “What are you still doing here?! Didn’t you hear that?!” He would have continued but the guard to his left hit him with the butt of his gun, sending the man sprawling back. 

“Do not interfere.” Said the guard with an unusual air of calm.

“Interfere?! The hell are you on about?! Adam, what’s wrong with you?!... Adam?”

The guard, formerly known as Adam, reached towards Matthews face. He clamped his hand over the mans mouth as he struggled to get free. 

“Tosh, get inside and tell everyone what just happened.” Owen whispered, already guiding Tosh towards a side door that looked like it had been left unlocked. 

She glanced at him. “What are you going to do?”

“Try and stop them killing this poor bastard. Go!”

Tosh nodded and pulled open the door, disappearing inside. He turned back to see Matthews movements slowing and weakening. 

“Oi! I know you two were the ones to blow up the bridges!” He shouted, making sure all of their attention was on him. Adam let go and Matthew fell back, gasping for breath and barely conscious but alive. Now Owen needed to separate these two without getting shot. He couldn’t just accept a death for the sake of it. It hurt too much for that. Both guards aimed their weapons but didn’t fire. 

“You could not know such a thing human.” Adam said flatly. 

Owen sighed internally, these were going to be talky bastards. “Pretty easy to work out, isn’t it. Especially as you just called me human.”

“It is too late. Face your death peacefully.”

“I don’t think so. If you want me dead then come and get me. I’ll fight you one on one if you drop the guns.” 

Adam smiled, showing way too many teeth and dropped his weapon. “As you wish. I am hungry.”

Owen braced himself, pretty sure these guys would be a lot stronger than most humans going on how Matthew could barely move this guys arm to save his own life. He’d faced down worse. Just needed to be fast. It wasn’t as if he’d stay dead even if they did kill him so there wasn’t much to lose. Adam made the first move, going for a swift knock out but Owen leaned back and out of reach. Neither man was a stranger to combat but Adam moved like he was used to being much taller. Whatever their natural form was it must have been much bigger than a human. After trading blows for longer than Owen would like he managed to get Adam to stagger. He swept the guards legs and took the opportunity to grab the weapon that had been dropped before. Safety was off which was a blessing as Owen fired two rounds into the other guard who was still armed, dropping him like a rock, turning he fired another two into Adam. After a few seconds, which Owen used to catch his breath and realise how much his knuckles were aching, both fallen guards shifted back to their natural forms. The squid like being wasn’t familiar to him but he was sure Jack would know something. He grabbed the second guards gun before trying to help Matthew inside. The poor guy was shivering and the skin around his mouth had gone bright red. He needed to warm up. 

Hearing the gunshots Jack rushed to the door. “Nice work Harper. What was all that noise about?”

“The bridges out of here have been demolished and I don’t think for a second these two were the only ones. Give me a hand here would you! Matt here took a dip in the moat and he’s slowly freezing to death.”

The captain helped bring the shivering man inside before looking up at Ianto. “I’ve got to make sure Lizzy is ok. No one gets in, no one gets out. Use force if necessary.”

“Yes sir.” Ianto replied, though he knew Jack was no longer listening. This was going to be difficult, trying to keep so many people in one place. Especially people who weren’t used to anyone telling them what to do. At least they looked shaken enough to comply. Owen was busy trying to find the nearest heat source to stop hypothermia setting in. The heaters had been hidden around the room so they didn’t spoil the decor. He dragged one over to help and switched it to about half way. An older gentleman approached, dressed in military gear. 

“Poor lad’ll catch his death in those wet clothes. Here.” The gentleman took off his thick coat and offered it. 

Owen took it and helped Matthew out of his sodden uniform jacket and shirt. His skin was red from the icy water and there was a line of bruising he’d gained from the shockwave when the bridge was destroyed. The coat wrapped around him snugly but it was better than freezing. 

“Thanks.” Said Owen, glancing at the elderly man. 

“Go on, help your friend. I was a medic back in the day so I can keep an eye on him.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’d rather be useful than stand around looking like a frightened child like the rest.”

“Fair enough.”

Ianto climbed up onto the stage where the band had ceased playing. “May I have your attention please. Due to a potential threat we need everyone to stay here until we get the all clear.” He announced. After a short pause the crowd began their panicked questioning. None of which he had prepared for. “Please, one at a time.”

The prime minister pushed through the crowd, red in the face and huffing as if he’d gone for a five mile run. “What makes you think you’re in charge now then?! Just because Captain Harkness says so? I don’t bloody think so.”

“If you leave this room you could die.”

“Then we’ll all run to our cars!”

“One, you’d trample each other and, two, the bridges over the moat surrounding the building have been demolished.”

“So we’re trapped?!”

“We’re safer in here than out there, running around in the dark.”

“And how are we any safer in here?”

“Because you’re being defended by people who actually know what they’re doing!” 

“Are you saying I don’t?!” He was more purple than red now and the heat he was throwing off from rage alone could have heated the whole castle.

“Yes!”

“Just because you hang off the captains every word doesn’t mean you know a damn thing! You Torchwood lot go around like you own the place and-”

Owen chose that moment to interrupt. “Ianto, mate, can you take over here? My vision’s a mess from the fight and we need to make sure no one attacks the door.” 

Ianto looked over in surprise at Owen actually using his name but very swiftly realised that what the doctor had meant ‘please let me take this jumped up prick apart’. 

“Of course.” Ianto took the second gun and walked over to the doors while the prime minister huffed at being functionally ignored. 

Owen sat on the edge of the stage, in front of the minister. “Right, listen. I know you’re used to people kissing your arse but if you carry on people could die. You think you run this show but you want to know what you are? You’re a hooker with a desk. You suck off your business friends and act like everyone else should be grateful, so don’t con yourself into thinking you’re working from some kind of high ground.”

“How dare- !” The minister began before Owen continued, barely acknowledging him. 

“The more grief you give us, the higher the chance we just say fuck it and kick you out to fend for yourself and trust me, you wouldn’t last five seconds out there with those things. Now, I’m going to do my job and everyone here is just going to sit down and pretend that everything's fine.”

Tosh fled through the door and slammed into someone. “Sorry.” She gasped. 

“Easy there. It’s me. What’s going on?” Asked Elise, catching Toshikos hands to steady her.

“The bridges have been destroyed and the two security guards at the door are shape shifters. Owen’s out there fighting them.”

“What? Should I go and help?”

“We need to tell Jack and make sure everyone else is safe. I’m sure Owen can handle them… Or at least we can rescue him afterwards.”

A scream that was cut, very much, short came from the kitchen. Both women ran towards the sound, ducking behind one of the mobile counters the kitchen staff had been using. Becca was being held up by her face, her kicking and struggling slowing in the waiters grip. 

Elise stood. “Let her go!” She growled, stepping closer.

The waiter barely moved, seeming very unimpressed. 

“I said let her go.” She took a knife from next to the sink and pointed it in the waiters direction.

He cracked a smile. “What do you think that tiny blade will do?”

“Everything it needs to.” 

‘CLANG’. Tosh brought the cast iron pan down on the back of the waiters head, not realising that the changelings skull was somewhat weaker than a normal humans. 

Elise caught Becca on the way down, pulling her out of the way as the creature fell. “You ok sweetpea?” 

“I… I didn’t mean to hit him that hard.”

“It’s ok. We can worry about it when everyone’s safe, yea?”

“Yes… Right.” She placed the pan on the counter and bent down to check on the unconscious waitress. Her cheeks were red and there were clear marks where the waiters fingers had dug into her skin. “The security guard did the same thing to Mr King outside. It’s like they’re draining the life force from people.” 

“Let’s just hope they don’t get hold of any of you.” Elise said as she lifted Becca into her arms. “Jack and Ianto were sticking to the main hall weren’t they? She’ll be safer with them.” 

“I’ll take the lead and make sure we don’t get ambushed.”

Following Toshikos lead Elise carried the waitress to the great hall, finding Owen at the doors, not looking too bad for just being in a fight. 

“You’re ok.” Tosh smiled, relieved. “Oh, one of the waitresses was attacked. These metamorphic creatures aren’t just part of security.”

“Some good news would be great right now.” He teased, letting them in and leading them over to where Matthew was recovering. He’d stopped shivering and seemed to just be sleeping at this point. 

“Where’s Jack and Gwen?”

“Jack ran off to personally protect the queen. Gwen’s over there. She said she overheard the head chef talking to one of the other shape shifters. They’re not just targeting the queen. They’re planning to feed off everyone here and plunge the UK into chaos so they can take over.”

“But that means anyone here could be one of them.”

“They’re confident and aren’t shy about fighting so I don’t think we would have had such an easy time if anyone here was.”

“I hope you’re right.” 

“I just wish we had access to the SUV. I could just test everyone here and be done with it.”

“Is there anything we could make a bridge with? Surely there’s a ladder or something here that would be long enough.”

“Going out there would be like putting a sign on your back saying please eat me.”

“Wait, isn’t there a UNIT representative here? They could call in to get reinforcements.”

“That’s a point. UNIT is usually the first to jump all over this.”

“Elise. Can you check for any incoming or outgoing signals?”

Elise looked up then down at her wrist, tapping through the applications until she found what she was looking for. There were no incoming signals and outgoing signals only got so far before fizzling out. “Looks like there’s some kind of signal blocking field. These guys seriously planned ahead. Think you can shut it down remotely?” She brought up a light blue hologram of a screen and keyboard. “It doesn’t give any real feedback but it’ll register your movements.”

“You act like I’ve never used a light keyboard before. Let me see.” 

Jack knocked on the door he guessed the queen would be staying behind. One of her personal guard opened the door slightly. 

“While we are on high alert, we will not be taking visitors.” They said firmly.

Jack wasn’t interested in what they thought right now. “Lizzy, it’s me.”

“Sir, please step ba-”

“Let him in.” Her majesty called. 

As he entered he saw how tired the queen looked. He sat across from her. “We need to get you out of here.”

“Jack, how long have you known me?”

“A long time. What happened to we, and one?”

“I am so very tired but I cannot abandon my people when they are under attack.”

“You’re not. I’ll get them out of here safely.”

“That is not an option. Our communications have been blocked.”

“I’m sure my team are already on it. Where are UNIT?”

“They could not attend.”

“Bullshit.”

“Jack, language.”

“You used to be worse than me.”

“In my military days. If anything were to happen to me-”

“Don’t talk like that.” He took her hand gently.

“Don’t interrupt. If the worst were to happen I have taught my grandson William well to keep Torchwood funded. The institute may not be what it once was but I believe it will be guided in the right direction under your leadership. You have chosen your team well, and do tell miss Sato that I have already penned a message to UNITs current director that will be delivered the moment whatever may be blocking our communications is lifted.”

“I’m getting you out of here alive.”

She sighed and leaned back heavily in her chair. “I find my thoughts getting quite hazy in this place.”

“Since you got here?”

“Indeed.” 

Jack stood and looked around the room at the queens personal entourage. “Where is Darcy?”

“Asleep in the next room. Why?” 

He moved to open the door but found it locked. Thankfully the lock itself was old and easy to slide open from his side of the door. The moment it was opened Darcy scampered in, standing between her owner and the guardsman that had not wanted to let Jack in, baring her teeth with a growl. 

“Leon? What have you done with the real Leon?” Elizabeth asked, a deep sadness in her eyes.

The guardsman went from surprised and slightly insulted to accepting. “Well, I wouldn’t be able to keep it up for much longer. Not that it matters at this point. And Leon is long gone. If it helps he made a good meal. Let’s get this done, shall we?” He dropped the stolen form to show what he really was underneath.

Two others in the room shifted as well, meaning Jack was technically surrounded. He wasn’t armed and if he fought them hand to hand there was no way of him winning. Granted, that had never stopped him before. He was ready to try and just keep these things distracted when a shot brushed past his arm, thudding into Leons gut. Jack knew exactly who had fired and turned to take the gun from her majesties hand, firing three shots. One into each of the creatures heads.

“I thought you didn’t carry anymore.” He laughed.

“It was Williams idea.”

“Good man.”

Tosh glared at the holo screen. If she had her own laptop it would have been easy but trying to shut down this signal dampener with Eli’s wrist computer was like trying to hack the pentagon with a mobile phone. It had the processing power but it simply wasn’t compatible with half of the programming languages Tosh knew. Adding the applications she had was a pain so this was impossible with the time they had.

“We’re going to have to shut it down manually.” She finally conceded.

Elise chuckled. “I guessed we would. I’ve never seen someone rage type on a light keyboard before.” 

“Sorry. If I had my laptop this would be easy.”

“It’s ok. Can you pinpoint where this thing is?”

She tapped the keyboard, or at least where the keyboard was projected. “I can give you a general area. It’s definitely above us. From what I can see here it’s most likely been placed at the top of the north west tower. The fastest route would be through the inner ward but you’ll be out in the open. You could go through the castle but we don’t know how many shapeshifters are patrolling. Then there’s a tunnel that runs underneath the castle. It’s part of the maze of secret passages in here. The subterranean tunnels haven’t been used since the twenties so I don’t know what kind of state they’ll be in.”

“I’ll take the tunnels if I can.”

“Don’t go alone. If I’m going to go with you I’m going to have to borrow someones shoes. Running back from the bridge nearly killed me.”

“It’s ok. I’m going to ask Ianto. Save him from the prime minister.”

“You mean save the prime minister from him when he can’t take it anymore. Gwen's been trying to keep them separated by the looks of it.”

“Eesh. Maybe I can help her out before I go.”

“Good luck.”

Eli stood and marched over to where Gwen looked like she was about to lose her temper. “Gwen, fancy a sit down? Your feet must be killing you.”

“Yes! Yes I do.” She said more sharply than she’d intended, before rushing off to calm down. 

“Well, sir. You look awfully red. Are you feeling alright?” Her polite concern caught the minister off guard. He’d expected more excuses or deflections.

“I’m just… It’s stress. We’re stuck here with no way to contact anyone for help.”

“Completely understandable. May I suggest a glass of ice water? You look a little dehydrated and you have a slight tremor to you. Have you had any heart problems in the past?”

His anger was slowly turning into nervousness. “N-no. I mean my doctor said my cholesterol was a bit high.”

“Oh dear. Then if I may sir, you might need to have a sit down. The water’ll do you good and I’m sure your lovely wife would appreciate the reassurance.”

He nodded and walked off towards the melting ice sculpture. The customer service voice worked like a charm. 

Walking down into a pitch black corridor that had been hidden behind a wooden warning sign that looked older than him, was not Iantos idea of fun but it was better than sitting in the main hall worrying. Elise flicked on the light built into her wrist comp’ to illuminate the long tunnel. Though there weren’t many turns the light didn’t even reach the first intersection. 

“So we’re really doing this, are we?” Ianto said.

“Yep. Come on, this is a little bit cool.”

“You’re afraid of a swimming pool but being buried alive under an ancient landmark is just fine.”

“We’re not going to be buried alive down here. From what I’ve seen of the workmanship of this place we’re probably safer down here than up there.”

Peering into the darkness, it didn’t feel like it. Their steps echoed through the empty tunnel, the only sound other than a slight breeze that crept in from above. 

“It’s a shame there isn’t one of these tunnels out of here.” Elise sighed. 

“Worried about getting back over the moat?”

“That’s an understatement. I’d rather face all of those shape shifters alone than have to get into some tiny boat to get across the water. Think they’ll let me move into one of the towers for a bit?”

He chuckled softly. “You’ll be fine... It’s this left turn just up ahead.”

The first turn showed yet more darkness and slightly damp walls. Old torches still sat, cold and damp, in their brackets on the walls. The walls themselves looked as if there had been some kind of mural painted onto the stone at some point. Traces of paint still clung on for dear life in the darkness. 

“I wonder why these tunnels haven’t been renovated. I know they’ve got the tower but subterranean tunnels are always great for tourism.”

“Maybe they’re haunted.” He said flatly, not giving away if he was teasing her or not. 

“Oh stop. It’s not like you believe in ghosts anyway.”

“That doesn’t mean other people don’t.”

“True. It’s a straight line to the tower then we’ve just got to climb the ridiculous amount of stairs.”

“And deal with any shape shifters that will inevitably guarding the jammer.”

“Is it too much to ask to have just really dense aliens for once? ”

“If we did our jobs would be pointless.”

“I guess. Ready for the long climb up?”

“No, but we’re doing it anyway.” 

They climbed the twisting stone staircase, wishing the architects had known what elevators were. By the time they were close to the top they would have taken a platform and a pulley system, health and safety be damned. 

The head chef stood with a waitress in the final room before the roof. He looked sour faced and uncomfortable. 

“I don’t see why I have to be here. I should be on the front lines with the others.”

“As soon as the royals are dealt with you can jump into whatever battle you wish, but for now this is the only thing between us and facing an actual army.”

“How about the two humans who think we couldn’t hear their footsteps on the way up here?” 

Ianto reached for where his gun would have been, realising it was very much not there. 

Elise frowned deeply. “Looks like this is going to be a fight. If this goes downhill I’ll keep them busy. You grab the others.” 

“I’m the immortal one here. Shouldn’t I be doing the distracting?”

“You’re a ten course buffet for them. You won’t be a distraction, you’ll be a power up.”

“What’s your plan?”

She pulled the folding knife she usually kept in her boot from her sleeve and watched it morph and curl into its sword form. “We make sushi.”

“I hate sushi.” 

Gwen stood, staring at the large gang of ‘security’ guards approaching the door. “We’ve got company.”

“How many?” Asked Owen, weighing up their options.

“Seven that I can see. All armed.”

“Shit, ok… We should barricade the doors.” He pushed everything off one of the heavy wooden tables and Tosh grabbed the other side. Together they moved it to lean against the door. Some of the guests seemed to get what was going on so they did the same for the other door. 

“Owen, we have two guns and very limited ammunition. We need to get these people somewhere safe.”

“Like where?”

“The hidden tunnels? I know there are a lot of people but we’re trapped. If they start firing it’ll be chaos.”

He hated to admit it but she was right. These people were innocent and they shouldn’t be thrown into the line of fire. “Ok, but where should we go? This place could be crawling with those shape shifters.” A loud slam on the door told them there wasn’t any time left. “Tell everyone to get down.”

“What are you going to do?” 

“I just need to be faster than them.”

“Owen!”

“Just do it!... Please.” He turned back to the door and readied the rifle. If he could take out the security guards he could take their weapons to deal with the rest. He took the lens he’d hidden inside his jacket and placed them on, looking just like normal sunglasses. With them on the figures beyond the door were lit up brightly. Calm breath, aim, keep the next shot in mind. Shards of the wooden door flew into the air as bullets broke through like he was firing through wet paper. One, two, three, four, five, click. “Shit!” Tosh was ready with the second rifle, handing it to him. No time to think. Six, seven, eight, nine. Slow breath. Why was the front of his shirt cold? He looked down to see the tattered fabric where the last guard had managed to get a single shot off. 

“Owen!” Tosh gasped as she caught him before he hit the floor. The room was silent for a moment before a scream rang through the room. The gentleman who had been keeping an eye on Matthew approached where Tosh was cradling Owens lifeless body. He gave her the softest, most sympathetic look. He’d seen enough people in both of their positions. 

“I’m so sorry.”

She grazed Owens cheek with her fingertips, knowing he should come back but never being one hundred percent sure if this time it would work. It was a longer process for them than it was for Jack, or at least it felt like it was. Wait, no, he couldn’t be out in the open when he came back. Gwen had obviously thought the same thing. She’d run to grab one of the bulkier military men to help move him somewhere hidden. 

The older man had gathered one of the white tablecloths to cover Owens body. “What’s your name dear?” He asked softly. 

Tosh looked up. “Toshiko.” She choked out, her mascara flooding down her face. 

“Toshiko, is it alright if we move you both somewhere private? I’m sure you don’t need an audience right now, eh?” He gestured to the younger man who was offering to move the body. 

For a few moments she didn’t want to. As if letting them move her lover would stop him coming back. Gwen took her hands to let them move Owen into the hidden corridor, away from prying eyes. Once the body was laid carefully down in the dark, covered by the pristine white sheet Gwen guided the two men out. 

“Let’s give her a few minutes.” She said, trying to hold back her own tears. She thought it would be silly to cry, as he’d be back and just fine in a few minutes but seeing Tosh in such a state broke her heart. 

Toshiko knelt in the little light that leaked in from the ballroom and folded the sheet down from Owens face. “Please come back now.” She breathed. “I hate facing things like this without you. It makes things easier when you’re a voice in my ear, you know? We don’t know where Jack is. We just have to hope that Elise and Ianto are safe and… I hate not knowing. It’s part of my job to know what’s going on. This immortality thing is… It’s a complete unknown. I don’t like things I can’t understand… You were always the same. Trying to find out how everything works. You’re more confident than me though. Code follows definite rules and logic but people… Biology I mean. That’s so much more complex to me. Even after learning so much bodies are just… They’re illogical. People can die from a broken heart. Isn’t that strange? Logically the body should function just fine but it doesn’t. It just stops. Then there’s us. Would that even be possible for us? I hope not… Owen, please…”

The doctor suddenly jolted to life, gasping for air and completely disoriented. She pulled him into her arms.

“Ssshhh shhh. It’s ok. It’s ok, it’s me.” She soothed, tears still running down her face. 

“What happened?” He asked as he realised he could breathe just fine and his chest, while sticky, wasn’t hurting. “Did I die?”

“A little bit… You took so long to come back. I thought… I’m glad you’re awake.”

He sat up, finally able to see her face as his eyes got used to the low light. He wiped his hands on the tablecloth before brushing the tears from her cheek. “Hey, what’s all this for? You knew I’d be back.”

“Just seeing you like that… I…”

“I wish I could hug you but I’m a bit of a state.” 

She pulled the tablecloth up to cover his chest and fell into his arms, clinging onto him for dear life. 

“Tosh, come on. You know I’d always come back. Can’t leave you here to deal with this lot alone, can I? What would you do when Harkness starts letting his ego make calls for him?” He kissed her on the top of the head. 


	3. End of the night.

Ianto slammed into the far wall, thrown by an extremely strong and pissed off waitress. He groaned at the pain that radiated through his back. He needed to move but his limbs weren’t completely listening. From his spot he could see the head chef, covered in gashes and dripping green blood onto the floor, holding Elise up by her face. He needed to help but he couldn’t get past this damn waitress. 

She picked him up by his collar. “It seems your friend isn’t doing so well. That’s what she gets for challenging the commander.” 

“Let her go! You can have me instead.” He cried, trying to pry the waitresses fingers from his shirt. 

The head chef dropped Elise to the waitresses shock. “Commander? Why did you release her?”

As she was distracted Ianto kicked the shapeshifter in the gut as hard as he could before punching her in the face. She staggered then fell, out cold. The chef turned, black ichor bubbling up from his hands and down his face from his eyes. He fell to his knees and shifted back to his natural form, the toxic looking slime pooling on the floor as it continued to leak from the mouths at the end of each of its tentacles. Finally he fell, face down, into the disgusting puddle. Elise gasped for breath from her sitting position on the floor, her skin red around her mouth. 

Ianto rushed over and crouched down, grabbing the blade she’d had torn from her hand halfway through the fight on the way. “Elise? What just happened?” 

“I… Have no… Idea.” She leaned her head back. “Destroy the… Jammer thing.”

He stood and turned to the small box covered with dials and small digital readouts. He’d seen similar devices before and they weren’t tough to switch off. He removed the back panel, deciding the mass of wires inside weren’t going to be necessary, and pulled as many wires out as he could, tossing them aside. Turning back he saw Elise laying on the floor.

“Need a hand?”

She rolled her eyes towards him. “I feel like I’ve been up for three days straight… Everything hurts.”

“Come on, you can’t stay on the floor.” He bent down to help her up. She staggered a little and lent heavily on his arm as she regained her bearings. 

“We should go.”

“We can send a message to the others about the jammer.”

“I mean to get away from the gross puddle.”

“What?” He looked down to see the small puddle had spread quickly across the floor, even reaching the unconscious waitress. She seemed to be suffering the same reaction upon contact with the ooze. 

“I think they’re allergic to me.”

“You should dip your sword into some.”

She gave him a disgusted look. “What did my sword ever do to you?”

“Elise.”

“Gah, fine.”

Gwen had gathered all but one of the fallen guards weapons when she felt eyes burrowing into her back. “For the love of-” She breathed before turning to make sure she wasn’t going to shoot an innocent guest. A tall member of the kitchen staff stood around nine feet away, perfectly still, with his eyes locked on Gwen. 

“Look, it’s over. You’ve lost. Just walk away!” She snapped, ready to just go home and curl up on the sofa. 

The chef slowly shook his head. “We still have many here.”

“And you’ll get mown down if you try and attack the people here.”

“That would be unwise.” He held up a small box. “If I let go, this place will be destroyed.” 

She glared at him knowing she needed to approach the situation very carefully. How to make sure he kept that button pressed but neutralise him at the same time. She placed the gathered weapons at her feet.

“So, what do you want?” She asked. 

He seemed pleased with the gesture. “Walk towards me.”

She kept her movements slow and kept where his hands were at all times in mind. She had a plan but she had to pull it off perfectly if she didn’t want the whole castle to be blown off the map. He eyed her like a piece of meat as she approached. Just a few more steps. With calculated grace she pulled off her silk scarf and wrapped it tightly around the mans hand, essentially tying the button down. He struggled and grabbed for her face with his free hand. She brought down her heel onto his foot, the fine heel cutting through his shoe like butter. The cry he let out pulled the attention of the group of military lads who were hanging around the door. They sprinted over and wrestled the man to the ground. Gwen made sure the scarf was securely tied so there was no way he could wriggle his way out of it. 

“If he moves his hand a bomb will go off. Make sure he doesn’t get his other hand near your face. The older gentleman rushed out with three fabric strips torn from one of the tablecloths.

“Tie his hand closed. This might be one of those things we’re going to get a long and boring chat about secrecy afterwards.” He said. Though his voice was steady and calm, even gentle, you could hear the cadence of a commander in his words. “Are you alright miss?”

“I’m fine. Thank you.”

“You’re one of Harkness’ lot, aren’t you?”

“How did you-”

“Young lady like you reacting to her friend getting shot in the chest with that level of calm. You had to be.”

“Oh… Yes.”

“So, is he like Jack and gets up after a bit?”

Gwen was taken aback by how much this man knew. “Yes… How do you know Jack?”

“Nowadays he’ll say I worked with his father but way back we had a bit of a run in with… Oh what did he call them… Big chunky lads they were… Started with an H… Hoix? Yes that was it. The things loved cigarettes. For eating, not smoking. So in walks this air force captain, all ego as you know, and he gets his throat bitten out. I was young back then and thought that was it. I was next. Then he only goes and gets up, shoots the thing in the head and smiles. After all that.” The man gave a wistful smile. “I thought I’d lost my mind. I’m sorry, I never asked your name.”

“It’s Gwen. Gwen Cooper.”

“Good to meet you. You can call me Frank. These are technically my bodyguards but they’re also my grandsons. Jared, Bart and Luke.”

The three men who were keeping the chef pinned down nodded a greeting, looking more than a little bit embarrassed.

“Hi.” She said softly in return, trying to make things less awkward. 

“Right, lets get him inside and find that bomb, shall we? Don’t want to get ambushed by more of them.”

The three men picked the shapeshifter up and manhandled him inside. Gwen gathered the weaponry again and, with Frank, moved back inside. Tosh was waiting, looking a little confused and like she’d attempted to clean the mascara from her cheeks. 

“This is Frank and his grandsons. He knew Jack back in the day.”

That made things make a little more sense. “That’s good? Why are we bringing in one of the shapeshifters and why are his hands wrapped up like that?”

“He has a switch in his hand for a bomb. If he moves his finger off the button it goes off.” She whispered, as not to cause a riot.

“Any idea where it is?”

“No and I don’t think he’s going to tell us. By the way you’ve still got mascara on your face.”

“Damn it.” She breathed to herself, rubbing under her eyes with a handkerchief. “They haven’t been using the tunnels so it won’t be down there and to cause the most damage they’ll want it planted as close to the centre as they can which would be either out there or…”

“In here.” Gwen looked over to the stage.

“You don’t think…”

“Where better to hide it? Let’s just take a look… How’s Owen?”

“I think I’m worse than he is.”

Jack checked his phone, hearing it beep quietly. 

“Nice to know communications are back up and running. As much as I hate to do it, I think it would be best to get UNIT to help with the clean up here. That and they can work out a way to get us all past the moat.” 

“You can employ more staff, you understand that, do you not?” Her highness said.

“The more people the harder it is to keep an eye on them. And the harder it is to keep everything secret.” 

“Speaking of which, what will you do about our guests? They cannot have possibly missed what is going on.” 

“They’ll forget.”

“Surely you haven’t enough amnesia pills for everyone.”

“Apparently my team have. They smelled a rat the moment they were invited so they smuggled a few things in.”

“One would expect nothing less.”

He smiled and looked down at her. “Back to the one and we? You must be feeling better.”

“One shall not be kept down for long.”

Down the corridor a figure was barely visible in the low light. Jacks wrist comp’ light not quite reaching them in the dark corridor. He readied the borrowed gun, just in case, as he approached. As he got closer the figure turned. 

“Jesus, put the light down!” Grumbled Owen, who’d been leaning against the wall.

Jack relaxed, seeing a familiar face. “What are you doing hanging out in here?”

“The people out there think I’m dead. I mean, they aren’t completely wrong but we didn’t want to start a riot.” 

“What happened?”

“I got shot by one of the guards. They’re dealt with now but it means I’m stuck.”

The queen cleared her throat. “Captain Harkness… Why did you not tell one about another immortal in your group?”

“It’s something we’re still looking into. It’s not something that can be transferred so-”

“Jack, how many?”

“Well…”

“Jack!”

“Including me we have four members who are technically immortal.”

She sighed. “At least you will have some prolonged companionship. One sympathises with your… unique position. But you cannot keep such things to yourself.”

“If I thought it would affect anything I would have told you.”

“We will speak about this at another time. One has a party to keep calm.” She swept out to the great hall as best she could at her advanced age. 

Owen tried to hide the smirk on his face. “You just got told off by the queen.”

“Seriously?”

“What? I’m stuck standing in the dark, covered in my own blood, give me something to work with here.”

“Make yourself useful and call Martha. I want to know why UNIT isn’t here and how long it will take to get us some help.”

“Right.” 

“And if you get the chance, grab a few sealed bottles of whatever you can find from the kitchen. This whole crowd will need to conveniently forget tonight.” 

“You’re sending me on a booze run?”

“Is there a problem with that?”

“No, it’s something I’m good at.” He grinned and pulled out his phone to call Martha. It had become an unwritten rule that she was their contact as they knew she could be trusted. She was better than the ridiculous power plays and politics that others got involved in. 

Gwen held the small light while Tosh examined the device they’d found under the stage. It had been hidden at the very back, just behind one of the structural posts. They’d had to crawl under but thankfully it wasn’t particularly dusty as the stage had been custom made for the event. The device itself was blocky and had obviously been built from scavenged parts found on Earth. They both wondered just how long these creatures had been hiding in plain sight, just waiting to put their plan into action. 

Tosh opened the side panel of the bomb and studied the mess of wires and circuit boards inside. Not the easiest task under torchlight.

“I need something sharp to get through the wires.” 

Gwen thought for a moment before digging inside her purse, taking out a glass nail file. She placed the tip between two of the posts and pushed it to the side, shattering it, leaving an extremely sharp edge. “Here.”

“Thank you.” She took it gratefully. “Now, let me see. This powers the receiver… These just go to the readout… Ah, here we are.” She carefully sliced through a yellow wrapped wire and removed a block that was the actual explosive material. It was well wrapped apart from the ignition wire sticking out so it was rendered reasonably stable. As long as it was kept away from extreme heat or electricity it wasn’t going to do anything. 

Gwen let out the breath she’d been holding. “There had better not be more of these.” 

“We could try and find out from the shapeshifter we’ve got tied up.”

“Let’s find out.”

They crawled out from under the stage to see the party guests crowding around someone or something. In a way that was a very good thing to keep their attention off the situation. They hoped anyway. Over by the bound alien, Jack was chatting quite cordially to Frank. 

“Ah, ladies, all went well I hope.” The elderly gentleman smiled. 

Gwen nodded. “It’s in pieces. How is her majesty?”

“She’s tired but her headstrong old self.” Jack pointed over to where the party guests had gathered. “Owen’s calling backup. Where’s Ianto and Elise?”

“They’re not back yet.”

“I really wish we’d brought a way to check on each other.”

“Jack…”

“Yea?”

“You are carrying your phone.”

Frank began chuckling.

“If Ianto got caught by one of these things because his phone started ringing he would kill me… Or worse.”

Tosh decided to just breeze past what Jack was hinting at and get back on track. “We need to know if there are any other devices.”

“You’re right.” He crouched in front of the bound alien. “Being as your bomb isn’t going off any time soon and I’d be happy to finish you off and add you to the pile of bodies outside, why don’t you tell me if you’ve planted anything else around here?”

The shapeshifter glared. “We do not need any others. You may have lowered our number but that doesn’t mean this is over.”

“This has been over for a while now. It’s just a matter of time.” He pulled himself up as there was a loud bang on the door that was more like a gate with all the bullet holes in it. A large group of what looked like event staff were slamming on the door, trying to get in. Another bang, this time from the other door. 

“Tosh, Gwen, you take the outer door. I’ll deal with the ones inside. Everyone! Get down and away from the doors!”

Owen looked through the rather impressive alcohol stash, mentally measuring how much retcon to put in each. He’d heard movement but, as he was unarmed, he decided that the others could handle it with the rifles they had. He just had to stay quiet and out of sight. Fate wasn’t going to go along with that plan as a terrified looking waiter ran in. The frightened man grabbed for one of the knives that had been set aside to be washed, his hands shaking.

“Back off!” He ordered, trying to sound confident and failing miserably. 

The shapeshifter that had been chasing him, one of the female chefs, laughed. “Just surrender. You couldn’t hide from us forever, what makes you think you could fight?”

“I’m not scared of you. I’ll stab you I swear! Just leave me alone.” 

She lunged at him and he dropped the blade before falling back against the counter. Owen couldn’t stay out of it. He grabbed the neck of one of the wine bottles and stood, slamming it into the side of the aliens face. She staggered back, covered in wine and broken glass, blood streaming down her face from her damaged eye socket. 

“You’ve got a harder head than the others.” Owen muttered to himself before swinging again with the broken bottle. She caught his wrist and threw him into the cooler, cracking the glass door, before pouncing on him. He struggled to keep her hand away from his face, both hands gripped around her forearm, her palm opening like a mouth and cold, clammy, air wafting from it. He really wished he hadn’t dropped the bottle as she brought her other hand down and pressed it against his face. It felt like the life was literally being pulled from him, even the electrical impulses from his brain felt dulled, leaving his thoughts hazy and hard to hold onto. She grinned, golden sparks dancing over the damaged side of her face.

“Where have you humans been hiding this? You taste like sunlight. I thought your race were all the same but this… This is amazing.”

Owens vision started to fade, too tired to keep fighting, when it stopped. The aliens grip released and she fell, the handle of a sharp kitchen knife sticking out of the top of her head. The waiter stood behind her, looking just as terrified as he had been before. “Oh my god. I just… I just killed her… I … Oh god.” 

“Can… Can you help… me up… before you have… a panic attack?”

“Yes… Sorry. Right.” He helped Owen sit up, away from the cracked cooler door.

“Think you’re up to … Carrying some bottles?”

“What? We’re being invaded! Why would you want drinks at a time like this?!”

The doctor blinked slowly, trying to fathom the logic this man was trying to present. 

“Never mind. Drinks are a great idea right now. If I’ve got to face death I’m not doing it sober.”

“That’s the spirit.”

“You’re covered in blood.”

“And now you notice. Thought it was a bit obvious.” He was starting to recover already. At least the whole immortality shtick meant he wouldn’t have to feel like hell for the rest of the night. “Had a run in with a few more of these earlier.” 

“Oh… Ok… Um, how are we going to get the drinks to the rest of the party? There’s loads of them out there.”

“We wait. Let me worry about the drinks, you keep an eye on the door.”

Walking down the steps to the tunnel felt much harder than it should have. Elise had to stop at the bottom just to catch her breath. 

“Are you sure you don’t want me to carry you?” Asked Ianto, starting to worry about his friend. 

She shook her head. “I’ll be fine. I just need a second.”

“You’re exhausted.” 

“Go on ahead if I’m slowing you down.”

“I’m not worried about being late or whatever you’re thinking. I’m worried about you.”

“Like I said, I’ll be fine. Let’s just go.” She took a few steps forward before her leg gave out and she grabbed onto the wall to stop herself landing on the floor. 

Ianto helped steady her. “It’s not going to kill me to give you a piggyback.”

“Ok, ok.” 

He lifted her onto his back before continuing down the subterranean tunnel. 

“Sorry I’m heavy.”

“You’re not that heavy. Try carrying Jack.”

“Don’t let him hear you say that.”

“For someone with such an ego he’s very insecure.”

“Says you.” She chuckled. “We should visit this place in the day some time.”

“It is beautiful in its own way.”

“Is there anywhere you dream of going? I mean you have forever so you’ll probably end up travelling at some point.”

He shrugged as best he could. “I used to think of going somewhere warm. See the sights, but then Torchwood happened and I didn’t have the time. I want to see space at some point. You?”

“I dreamed of leaving everything behind and just hopping on the first plane out to wherever. Maybe try and contact my nans side of the family. See as many large landmarks that were still standing as I could. Space sounds fun though.”

“You never know.”

“I kind of hope Tosh gets to travel. She’s going to outlive any of the UNIT lot so their rules won’t exactly apply anymore and I’m sure it would make her happy to visit Japan after so long.”

“I’m sure she’d give you and Owen a few Japanese lessons before you go.”

“You know I can’t go anywhere.”

“You think Tosh and Owen won’t work out a way to change that? When you got those two together Jack was seriously considering how to stop them taking over the world. They’re the only people I could actually see pulling it off.”

“What did he decide?”

“He just hoped he could appeal to Tosh’s better nature.”

“And Owen?”

“Lost cause.” He said drily.

She rolled her eyes and smirked. “Be nice.”

“Blame Jack, not me.” He smiled. He could feel she was having trouble keeping her head up. “Why don’t you take a power nap?”

“Then who’d be the torch? I’m ok… I shouldn’t have gotten caught by him in the first place. I must be getting rusty.”

“He was fast. I was shocked you managed to hit him at all.”

“I’ve fought faster. Though I had more manoeuvrability in the rift. Gravity works differently there, it’s lighter.”

“Well, now we can take out the rest of the shapeshifters. They just need to touch that stuff and it’s over.”

Gwen winced, knowing she’d have ringing in her ears and arm ache the next day. All of the Torchwood weaponry was modified to be quieter, lighter and give less kick than these military models and she missed them. It seemed as if almost all of the event staff were shapeshifters and they were willing to run headlong into the line of fire to try and overwhelm the flimsy defences. The click of an empty gun made Gwens stomach drop. The weapons hadn’t been fully loaded and now they were useless. 

Tosh pushed the door closed. “What now?”

“I don’t know. We just have to hold out until reinforcements arrive.”

“This door isn’t going to hold. I could make smaller explosive devices from the bomb under the stage but I’d need time and tools. I could make something with what’s in the kitchen but there’s a small army between us and there.” 

The door shook as something slammed on it from the outside. 

From the other side of the room Jack called over. “I’m out of ammo here!”

“Same!” Gwen called back.

He gritted his teeth, trying to think of a plan. “Just... We need to get everyone out of here.” 

From the hidden hallway Ianto appeared, Elise clung to his back looking like she hadn’t slept in a week. 

She slid down and staggered. “Thanks.”

“Good to see you both.” Jack nodded as he hurried over. “We need to get everyone out of here.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve got this.”

“You look like you’re about to collapse.”

“Trust me.” She smiled softly and stumbled towards the door, lining her sword up with one of the holes before stabbing it through. There was a cry from the other side and she pulled the blade back, sliding it through the next gap. 

Tosh approached her. “You can’t stab them all. That door won’t hold much longer, come on.”

“It doesn’t need to.” She pulled back the blade and it transformed back to its dormant state. “Looks like I’m really done for today, huh.” 

Tosh caught her partner as Elise collapsed. Beyond the door the shapeshifters began to scream and panic. The first one who’d come into contact with the sword had started to leak more of the black ichor which only made the contagion spread. 

“What just happened?” Asked Jack.

Ianto spoke softly. “She poisoned them. It can be passed by contact alone.”

“How?”

“I think the one that fed from her was allergic to her life force and his blood caused the same reaction in another of them. They’re melting from the inside out.”

“That’s…”

“Horrific. But they did this to themselves.” 

The bound alien on the floor hissed. “No! Do you people know how long we’ve been here?! Forty years! Forty years of waiting! Planning! Watching you pathetic little creatures waste your lives with petty nonsense! Watching you all squabble and bark at each other like dogs! Forty years on this backwards, nowhere, sorry excuse for a planet just getting ready to take over and you think you could wipe us all out like that?! We’ve wiped out entire races! Destroyed planets and you think your little sickness can stop us? We are experts in biological and chemical warfare! You’re food! Just here to be sustenance for us.” 

“That’s a lot of talk from someone who was exiled from their own planet.” Gwen glared. 

The screams from outside died out, only to be replaced by the hysterical cries from the other door. 

UNIT were pretty quick workers when they needed to be. They had the bodies cleared in only an hour, which gave the retcon time to work. It was a low dose as they only needed to forget the evening. Owen was sat in the corner, one arm wrapped around Elise as they both slept. Tosh checked on them every few minutes until Jack told her to just take a break and sit with them. Gwen let herself fall into a chair next to Ianto.

“Any news on when we can leave?” He asked.

“As soon as the last few guests have left we’re free to go. Well, we could leave now but apparently the car park’s a nightmare.”

“That’s why I always leave parties early.”

Jack chuckled. “That’s why you always miss the best part.”

“That depends on who I’m leaving with.” 

“Sadly we can’t leave with just the two of us.”

Gwen rolled her eyes. “I’m sure one of the apartment rooms is empty if you simply can’t wait. Don’t mind us.”

“Don’t even think it. Not with UNIT sweeping this place anyway.” Ianto scolded, seeing Jacks eyes light up. 

“So does this mess mean we get a day off tomorrow?” 

Jack smiled. “As long as you write up your report I wouldn’t mind you working from home. I’m sure they’ll be wanting a half day at least.” He pointed to the corner where Tosh had tucked herself under Owens other arm.

“Think they’ll be ok? Elise didn’t look great.”

“They’ll be fine. A good nights sleep and some TLC and they’ll be back to normal. I see her habit of throwing herself at danger’s back in full force.”

Ianto sighed. “It wasn’t her fault. This was just her bad luck. Anyway, if she hadn’t then things could have gone very differently. Tonight was a disaster but at least all of the guests survived.”

“It wasn’t a complete disaster.”

“It was close to it.”

“We’re alive and I might have liberated a few bottles from the caterers finest collection.”

“How? And where?” 

“I got Frank to take them down to the car park. They’ll be hidden under the SUV when we get there.” He looked like the cat who got the cream.

Gwen chuckled lightly. “You know you’re admitting to theft.”

“It’s not theft. Those drinks were intended for guests and we’re guests. I’m just making sure they’re not wasted and we could be.” 


End file.
